Best Istanbul Tours

Plan on two to four days to see the main sights at a relaxed pace. The Old City fits into one full day: the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar and the Hippodrome. Day two can take in a Bosphorus cruise, Topkapi Palace and the Basilica Cistern, and day three Balat, Dolmabahce Palace or the Asian side. Our private guided Best of Istanbul tour runs over one, two or three days, starting at $199 per group, with roughly 7 hours spent with the guide each day.

For a guide of your own, the Best of Istanbul Private Tour spends roughly 7 hours at the Grand Bazaar, the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, priced from $199 per group. If you would rather share the day and have lunch and museum entry covered, our Istanbul Old City Full-Day Tour starts at $199 per person. For something shorter and private, the Private Basilica Cistern Tour, with Topkapi and Hagia Sophia as optional additions, starts at $150 per person. See the Included list on every tour page.

Topkapi Palace closes on Tuesdays, Dolmabahce Palace on Mondays. The Grand Bazaar does not open on Sundays, so on that day our Old City tours go to the Spice Market. On Fridays, entry for visitors to Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque is limited around the midday prayers, about 12:00 to 2:30 pm. In 2026, museums and bazaars are also closed on 1 January and over the religious holidays. Our guides arrange the order of visits with these closures in mind.

Most private walking tours do not: you buy tickets at the office on the day, and your guide helps you through the queue. A few tours include them. The afternoon tour of Topkapi, Hagia Irene and the Grand Bazaar (from $150) covers the Topkapi ticket. Lunch and museum tickets are both part of our Istanbul Old City Full-Day Tour, priced at $199 and up. The Private Basilica Cistern Tour (from $150) covers the cistern ticket, and the Dolmabahce Palace Private Tour (from $150) covers the palace ticket. See the Included list on every page.

You can choose from three price levels. The shared Bosphorus Lunch Cruise is from $75 per person, with lunch served on board and pick-up from your hotel; the Luxury Bosphorus Dinner Cruise, which includes a show, is from $90. If you want a boat to yourselves, our yachts are hired by the hour for the whole group, from $190 an hour and for 2 hours minimum. The 2-Hour Private Bosphorus Yacht Cruise comes with a licensed guide plus tea or coffee on board and costs from $600 per group.

It is, provided you can spend 6 hours or more away from the airport. Our Private Istanbul Layover Tour with Airport Transfers lasts 6 to 8 hours, leaves from Istanbul Airport or Sabiha Gökçen and is priced from $550; it covers the private van, the transfer to and from the airport and a licensed guide. Your guide picks sights that suit your flight times. Meals and museum tickets cost extra. Give us your arrival and departure times, and we will confirm whether the plan is workable.

A full day on our Best of Istanbul tour with a private guide starts at $199 per group. That figure covers the whole group rather than each traveller, so for a family of four it comes to about $50 a head, not counting tickets. The Classic Istanbul Full-Day Private Tour starts at $200 per person, while 8 hours around the city in a Mercedes Vito with your own driver starts at $220 per group. Museum entry is usually paid on top.

If you are travelling alone or as a pair, a small group is cheaper: our small-group Hagia Sophia and Topkapi tours start at $120 a person, entry tickets included. A private tour works better for families, slower walkers and travellers who like to set their own pace and order of sights. The Best of Istanbul tour costs from $199 for the whole group, so with three or four people it becomes the better deal.

On a first trip, yes. A licensed guide makes the Grand Bazaar, Topkapi, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia easier to follow and also deals with the ticket line. If all you want is to look at Istanbul from a boat, a Bosphorus cruise from $75 per person works without a guide. If you travel alone, you can join a small-group tour from $120 per person.

On many of them. Day trips to Troy, Bursa and the Princes' Islands, the lunch cruise on the Bosphorus, and private tours starting from central hotels include hotel pickup or have your guide meet you at the hotel. The afternoon small-group Topkapi tour does not take you back to your hotel, and the street food tour and the whirling dervish ceremony begin at a meeting point. See the Included list on every tour page.

Our cheapest options start at $60 per person: a whirling dervish ceremony, or a beach day out to Şile on the Black Sea. If you want Old City sights, the best value is the small-group visit covering the Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque at $120 per person, museum entry included. On the water, a Bosphorus cruise with lunch starts at $75 per person.